HR: 0830h
AN: A21A-11    [Abstracts]
TI: Distribution and Sources of Lead in Urban Soil in El Paso, Texas
AU: * Pingitore, N E
EM: nick@geo.utep.edu
AF: The University of Texas at El Paso, Department of Geological Sciences, El Paso, TX 79968-0555 United States
AU: Amaya, M A
EM: mamaya@utep.edu
AF: The University of Texas at El Paso, College of Health Sciences, School of Nursing, El Paso, TX 79968 United States
AU: Clague, J
EM: jclague@utep.edu
AF: The University of Texas at El Paso, Department of Geological Sciences, El Paso, TX 79968-0555 United States
AB: The geographic distribution of lead in El Paso soils is presented in maps based on 500 composite soil samples collected in the region. Each composite sample comprises equal volumes of samples taken from the public space in front of individual houses or structures around a single municipal block. The use of such composites highlights the distribution of lead at the neighborhood level, and de-emphasizes any anomalous elevated level associated with an individual house or structure. Lead levels are highest in the downtown commercial district, in the adjacent area to the east, which comprises an old central business, transport, and light industry complex, and to the west in the area of a century-old smelter, placed on standby six years ago. The continuity of this zone, and the age of its structures, make it difficult to differentiate lead sources. Lead values decrease systematically away from this urban core zone, with the lowest levels generally encountered in the peripheral, lightly populated developments and communities. This geographic distribution of Pb in soil is consistent with Pb measurements reported on particulate matter taken from four air monitoring stations during the 1990s. Soil data thus can complement air studies by providing an essentially infinite geographic network of sampling sites that, with varying accuracy, record and integrate air conditions over years and decades. Research supported by NIEHS Grant 1RO1-ES11367.
DE: 0322 Constituent sources and sinks
DE: 0345 Pollution--urban and regional (0305)
DE: 1065 Trace elements (3670)
DE: 1875 Unsaturated zone
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly